Stegomyia

(steg-o-mi'-e-ah) [ortyavbc, covered; (j.u'ca, a fly], it is a genus of Culicidce mosquitoes, that includes Aedes aegypti, founded by Theobald, represented in most tropical and subtropical countries ; one species occurring in the warmer parts of southern Europe.

Mosquito bites

The adult mosquitoes are usually very vicious biters, both by day and night. According to the experiments of the American Commission on Yellow Fever S. fasciata is the agent which spreads the germs of this disease. S. fasciata, Fabricius (1805), a very distinct and common species, easily distinguished by the thoracic ornament- ation and by the last hind tarsal joint being white.

Habitat

It is almost cosmopolitan, but does not appear to occur in cold regions.

Intermediate host

It is one of the most troublesome and annoying of mosquitos; the bite is very irritating. Both male and female bite. It is the intermediate host of the hematozoon Filaria Bancroftii, which also occurs in Culex fatigans, Wide- mann, and in Anopheles. The yellow-fever parasite is disseminated by this gnat. Syn., Brindled or Tiger mosquito.

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